Morgantown, WV DUI Lawyer

Driving Under the Influence Defense in Monongalia County

The best DUI lawyers in Morgantown, WV have represented hundreds of citizens
charged with
drunk driving or
drugged driving. Driving under the influence is a crime in all states, and West Virginia's
DUI laws can be harsh and somewhat arbitrary in some ways. While all DUI
attorneys are criminal defense lawyers, not all criminal attorneys specialize
in motor vehicles crimes, much less limit their law practice to driving
while intoxicated. But
Morgantown DUI lawyer Harley Wagner has done just that.

Fewer than 3% of all West Virginia lawyers are experienced in DUI defense.
Some may handle criminal law, but that is often white-collar crime or
felonies, like aggravated assault, sex crimes, or murder. To define “experienced,”
the criteria being used for West Virginia DUI lawyers is having helped
over 1,000 prior clients. If you contact local law firms, you will be
hard-pressed to find local attorneys with such extensive experience as
a DUI defense lawyer.

At The Wagner Law Firm, Mr. Wagner is routinely one of the most frequent
DUI attorneys in Morgantown, WV, representing clients charged with impaired
driving. In fact, he is the only lawyer who limits his entire legal practice
to intoxicated driving and travels to any county in West Virginia. Harley
also work with the families of college students who were arrested for
DUI under 21, underage possession of alcohol, and even misdemeanor marijuana
possession.

West Virginia University DUI Defense

Almost 30,000 college students attend West Virginia University in Morgantown,
and their safety both on and off-campus is the responsibility of several
police forces, including campus police (WVU Police), the Morgantown Police
Department, and the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office. Part of
the police officer’s role as law enforcement officers is to arrest
impaired drivers.

In addition to helping WVU undergraduates and upperclassmen, DUI defense
attorney Harley Wagner receives desperate phone calls from alumni, parents,
and Mountaineer football fans who were in Morgantown for a home game.
The basketball team has also flirted with national prominence, but these
home games bring smaller crowds to Morgantown. Public safety officers
cover the city and county of Monongalia, for these events.

Many clients call us and ask their first question: “Is a DUI a felony?”
Because they were arrested, they think that their criminal charge must
be a WV DUI felony. Most drunk drivers are a first offense DUI, about
90% are for alcohol only, and well over 90% of driving under the influence
cases are a misdemeanor DUI. Because West Virginia DUI laws FAVOR a first
offender who has submitted to an implied consent test, Mr. Wagner often
can give these citizens some excellent news of a possible DUI diversion.

Citizens arrested for drunken driving may be charged with driving under
the influence of alcohol, alcohol and drugs, driving while impaired by
marijuana or after taking prescription medications (DUI-drugs). The Wagner
Law Firm also has handles cases for a parent who was in Morgantown for
purposes of moving their child into a new dorm or new apartment. Some
citizens are arrested for DUI in WV at a DUI checkpoint, set up late at
night, after the main traffic jams have subsided.

Many out-of-state drivers travel on local roads, including Interstates
68 and 79, and Don Knotts Blvd, and suddenly hear a police siren and see
flashing blue lights behind them. Being handcuffed and driven to jail
is traumatic enough without having to travel back to Morgantown for court
over the next year or more. Such costly time away from work is disruptive
and can signal an employer that “something is wrong.”

Harley Wagner Is Known Across the State of West Virginia

Harley’s DUI law office is in Martinsburg, WV, about a 2-hour drive
from WVU. When retained for cases in Morgantown, Mr. Wagner routinely
drives to Morgantown to meet with his clients. The purpose of the face-to-face
meeting is to explain the best defense strategy for their pending case.
Beating a DUI starts with filing written motions in court to get damaging
evidence excluded or suppressed. This is an essential part of vigorously
defending his clients facing DUI charges in Morgantown Municipal Court
and in the Monongalia Magistrate Court.

Your first court date is called an arraignment, but you DO NOT have to
be present. Harley Wagner will file a plea of not guilty for you and file
a discovery motion to obtain a copy of your arrest video, and your
breathalyzer results (blood alcohol content level, like 0.09%). Harley Wagner begin working
on your case immediately because not a single day can be wasted to protect
clients’ right to drive and fight to avoid a DUI conviction. Highly
important is to protect your driving privileges by having Mr. Wagner file
your administrative license suspension appeal WITHIN 30 DAYS of arrest.

Don’t Hesitate, Contact The Wagner Law Firm Today

The WV state prosecutor’s office gets your arrest paperwork and breath
test results within hours of your arrival at jail. They get a head start
on building a solid case against you. But there is hope. With Harley Wagner,
experience can help turn hope into reality. The Wagner Law Firm has changed
the outcomes of people’s cases from “hopeless” to “successful,”
for almost 20 years. Favorable results have saved hundreds of Mr. Wagner’s
clients a lot of grief that (if not handled properly) would have stretched
out their entire lifetime.

Why not take advantage of your FREE consultation? If you or a loved one
was facing a dire cancer diagnosis, would you search for a cancer specialist
near me, or find the true expert in the field, even of that meant going
to Texas, North Carolina, New York or Atlanta? Pick up your phone, and
call us at (304) 461-6000.
What do you have to lose?

Why Trust Harley Wagner?

Over 20 Years of Experience

More Than 2,500 DUI Cases Handled

Performed 800 Hours of DUI Defense Training

Award Winning Representation

Faculty Member at DUI Defense Lawyers Association

Author of West Virginia's Preeminent DUI Book: West Virginia DUI Defense: The Law and Practice

Meet Harley Wagner

Award Winning DUI Attorney

Harley Wagner

Award-Winning DUI Attorney Harley is the owner of The Wagner Law Firm, West Virginia’s only exclusive DUI defense law firm. Harley is a graduate of his beloved alma mater, West Virginia University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in journalism in 1990. He attended law school in Lansing, Michigan where he graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in 1995. Criminal law and being a criminal defense attorney was Harley’s singular focus during and after law school. In furtherance of ...

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